The Cost of Politics

During this last week, I have continued to reflect on the vote taken at last Monday’s Marco Island City Council Meeting regarding the approval of a “variance” for a project being proposed for a property at the intersection of Bald Eagle Drive and West Elkcam Circle. The subject property abuts the Marco Island Cemetery and specifically the area of the Jewish Memorial Grounds. 

Per the city charter, land development is “regulated by the City’s Land Development Code.” Early on in the discussions that evening, Vice Chairman Eric Brechnitz questioned Chief Planner Mary Holden as to whether she was aware of any variances ever being granted which reflected 20% of the requirement of the normal 15-foot buffer, which under this developer’s proposal would only allow for a three-foot landscape buffer.

Many at that meeting saw this as impacting the serenity of the cemetery due to the placement of a drive-thru fast food facility with its amplified speakers while services are being held for loved ones. 

The human face of this debate came forward when Jason Fries spoke about his desire to protect the serenity he enjoys up to three days a week when he visits his daughter’s grave in the cemetery, asking council to deny the request. “Many of these buildings are created without drive-thru lanes, or they can simply shrink the building or rearrange its footprint,” said a softspoken Fries. 

Brechnitz went on to question the engineer of the project as to what the actual “hardship” was relative to requesting the variance. “Our Land Development Code requires that prior to granting a variance,” he said. Brechnitz made the analogy to a family needing uninterrupted electric power to their home for medical reasons, which may require a generator and a protrusion of two feet into a setback. “That’s a hardship,” said Brechnitz.

That brought a response from the engineer. “The hardship we have requires a minimum area for the building; this would require a second story, which would raise our costs,” said Andres Boral of Boral Engineering. 

Anthony Oliverio, who serves as a partner in this endeavor, came forward to support Mr. Boral’s perception of the hardship issue. Oliverio’s comments resulted in Brechnitz’s responding that the inconvenience to your business plan should not be taken into consideration as a hardship, which drew an immediate outburst of support from those in attendance.

As I sat throughout the week and reviewed the testimony of councilors, it brought me to wonder why they would approve a variance that showed no reasonable hardship. However, it also caused me to ponder more about the influence of money in our political system, especially in regard to how it influences small-town politics.

Over the last several election cycles here on our small island, we have found that the cost of running for office has been pushed beyond that of the normal citizen, which continues to grow the influence of money in our elections. There is an ever-growing share of the general public that sees political campaigns as too costly, therefore increasing the influence of donors and special interests.

Some studies have shown that Americans overwhelmingly believe that the cost of political campaigns makes it harder and harder for good people to run for public office. This is an opinion shared almost equally across the political spectrum. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the relationship between money, access, and votes. 

Just take a look in your mailboxes these last months. Those large glossy mailers that come courtesy of candidates each week, and with more frequency as we quickly approach important election dates, should tell you a lot. Those mailers don’t come free, nor do the expenses of talented men and women who run campaign companies out of Tallahassee and Atlanta. They create those campaigns that push the hot buttons of the constituencies and their interests.

In our small community we have spent thousands of dollars for “consultants” to tell us what we already know. We came here because we enjoyed the small community feel of the island. We didn’t want to live like they do on the east coast of Florida or in Tampa or Orlando. We like the fact that we can visit those places on occasion, but this is where we like to live, in a quieter environment, where, for the most part, we know our neighbors and enjoy a slower pace of life.

Twenty-six years ago, residents of the island voted to control their own destiny when we made the conscious decision to incorporate by the slightest of margins. Some of the decisions of late call into question whether we do control what the future will bring for generations yet to come and whether it’s time to take some bold steps ourselves, starting with this next election.